Northstar Vale Why do lovers break each other’s hearts?

@Maxim had not come home last night.

Feeling jittery, Towhee left @Sable and @Towhee Jr sleeping inside the family’s little roost and stepped into the chilly, misty morning. She steadied herself with a few deep breaths, thinking vaguely of “yogurt” as her orange eyes scanned the nearby spring.

Maxim did not magically appear.

Towhee summoned @Phox, asking him to call for her mate. When there was no answer, she asked her brother to keep an eye on the kids and went straight to Saffron Grove. She reported her mate missing to @Arsenio and @Tamar, sharing with them the details of their last conversation.

Maxim had said he was going to hunt some goats up in the mountains. That was where Towhee intended to head now. She knew her mate would never voluntarily walk out on his family, so he must be hurt… badly hurt, if he wasn’t even responding to distress calls.

As she climbed out of the vale, Towhee could only hope he would pop up and make her feel silly for worrying. She wouldn’t even give him a hard time for disappearing overnight. She would just be glad he was okay.

Until then, this was shaping up to be one of the worst days of Towhee’s life.